Terrifying footage shows diver scream for help as he's attacked by world's fastest shark
Terrifying footage has emerged showing a diver scream for help as he's attacked by world's fastest shark.
Chad Patti had been spearfishing off the coast of Florida over New Year's with his two pals Josh Loucks and Nathan Lancaster.
The 30-year-old explained that the trio had been drift diving in the water and never saw any signs of sharks other than 'the fish being a little spooked'.
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But things took a turn for the terrifying in the final dive. As Chad was waiting to be picked up by their boat, he attempted to snatch a wahoo fish.
Upon seeing that it was a smaller fish, he decided to let it pass and 'did a 360' to make sure the coast was clear.
As he swam towards the boat, a whopping mako shark came out of nowhere and chomped on Chad's fin.
Thanks to his GoPro, the diver was able to capture the shocking attack on camera and share it with the world.
Thankfully, the shark did a disappearing act and Chad came out of the attack unscathed - but he's well aware it was a close shave.
Sharing the footage on Facebook, he thanked his two diving buddies and confirmed there was 'not a scratch on him', adding: "Never know when you'll become the prey."
For those not in the know, makos are known as the fastest species of shark, capable of reaching moving speeds of 31 mph with bursts up to 46 mph.
They have been classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species since 2019 due to them being targeted for their fins to be used in shark fin soup.
Chad spoke with Pensacola News Journal about his chance encounter with the sea creature, which unfolded approximately 70 miles off the Pensacola coast.
"At the point where the video picks up, I’m recovering from the dive, doing what they call recovery breathing," he explained.
"I was just about to ask if we were doing another drift. I got 'are' out of my mouth when it hit me from the back right corner."
Speaking about the shark, which he estimated to be around 10 feet long, he added: "It basically shoved my knee to my chest, almost knocked the wind out of me, knocked my gun out of my hand, partially flooded my mask and I did a somersault in the water.
"The first scream, the 'help', I didn’t think I had a leg, honestly.
"It wasn’t just a bump. I got it [the video] slowed down five times the speed and you can see the shark clearly has the fin in its mouth. You can see him crush it.
"It was a predatory strike from the mako. I was his prey. There was no mistaken identity. There was no fish in the water. No blood in the water."
Chad continued: "It did what any mako does. It kind of takes out the motor, cuts the tail off the fish in the first strike and then it doubles back and finishes it off.
"When it hit my fin, what it was doing was it was trying to take the motor out. Luckily the boat was there and my buddy Josh jumped in the water."
Despite his awareness of the danger he was in, Chad said the incident hasn't put him off of fishing.
He finished by saying: "I’m not going to let it stop me from doing something I love."
Daisy Phillipson